Old World, New Ideas

Kevin Goldberg

Kevin D. Goldberg began collecting European coins as a Middle School student in suburban Philadelphia. Three decades later, he still collects European coins, but now in suburban Atlanta, where he teaches in the Department of History & Philosophy at Kennesaw State University. He earned his Ph.D. in European History from the University of California, Los Angeles, and was a postdoctoral fellow in the International Humanities at Brown University, 2011-2013. Kevin has been planning on expanding his collection beyond Europe for the past decade, but is only now getting around to it.

Another side of Saint-Gaudens

Up close with Saint-Gaudens's Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth Regiment

In looking through a list of the 50 most influential pieces of art and
architecture in American history, I was surprised to see a numismatic
name; Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Saint-Gaudens, celebrated by most of us
here as the designer of the famed double eagle and Indian head gold
coins, was also an accomplished sculptor.

Although his name will forever be linked to
numismatics, Saint-Gaudens’s best-known creation is his Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts
Fifty-Fourth Regiment, a bronze relief sculpture located at the
Boston Common.

Robert Gould Shaw was born into a family of white
abolitionists in Massachusetts. Following some time in New York and
Europe, Shaw returned to Boston to attend Harvard University from
1856-1859. Two years later, he entered the service of the Union army.
In 1862, Shaw—with the encouragement of his abolitionist father—took
command of the newly formed all-black Massachusetts 54th regiment.

Shaw was a hero on and off the battlefield. He
insisted that his men boycott service until Congress paid black
soldiers equal to their white counterparts. On another occasion, he
refused orders to indiscriminately fire upon the citizens of Darien,
Georgia, as he desired not “to be made the instrument of the Lord’s
vengeance.” Colonel Shaw’s leadership of the Massachusetts
Fifty-Fourth came to an abrupt expiration on July 18th,
1863, as Shaw took a barrage of bullets to the chest while
spearheading a charge against Fort Wagner in South Carolina.

Unveiled in 1897, Saint-Gaudens’s 14’x11’
memorial honors Shaw’s bravery and sacrifice at a time when these
deeds were most foreboding. An inscription on the relief reads OMNIA RELINQVIT / SERVARE
REMPVBLICAM ("He left behind everything to save the
Republic").

Among the accomplishments of this particular
artwork is the realist (non-derogatory) depiction of African-American
soldiers, a true-to-life artistic style that was in too short supply
in 19th-century America.

Augustus Saint-Gaudens was a prolific artist. His
sculptures, statues, and busts are found across the United States and
Europe. While the day may never come when you or I can own a
Saint-Gaudens numismatic piece, we can and should revel in his
profound public art.

This entry was posted on Sat Jun 27 08:30:35 EDT 2015. You can follow any responses to this entry through the Atom feed.